In order to attract and retain staff to work in the Birim North District especially at New Abirem, the district capital, landlords have been urged to reduce the high rents for accommodation which have been scaring away newly posted staff to take up their appointments.
Mrs Juliana Charway Sackey, the District Director of Health Services (DDHS), made the call at New Abirem in the Eastern Region at the end of year Performance Review Meeting of the district health directorate.
She said that over the past few months, eight newly posted staff, including nurses, refused to take up their appointments at the newly upgraded New Abirem Government Hospital due to what she described as the “exorbitant” rent being charged by landlord.
The DDHS said if the situation was not reversed, it would affect the operations of the hospital since it was woefully understaffed. She appealed to the chiefs to talk to people to be a little bit flexible and not raise their rent because of the proposed mining of gold by Newmont Gold Ghana Limited in the area.
Nana Asamoah Opuni, the Abirem Krontihene who deputized for the Abiremhene Nana Amoh Kyeretwie as chairman for the function, promised that the traditional authority would take the matter up immediately and hold a durbar with the people to discuss it.